Strike in National Education on April 2: school, middle schools, high schools... Who is mobilized?

After the strike day of March 19, the National Education unions are calling on teachers to strike again on Tuesday, April 2.

The teaching unions are calling on National Education staff for a new day of strike on April 2. The last mobilization dates back to March 19 and concerned all sectors of the public service. This day of strike saw 8.80% of teachers on strike, according to figures from the Ministry of Education. The mobilization of April 2 carries the same message as the previous ones, namely the opposition of teachers to the creation of level groups for French and mathematics lessons in sixth and fifth grades.

In a joint press release from the teaching unions bringing together the Snes-FSU, the first secondary school union, the SNEP-FSU (physical education and sports), SUD Éducation, the CGT éduc'action and the FNEC-FP FO, the latter carry the message: “We will not sort our students!” These unions are demanding the pure and simple abandonment of the reform initiated by Gabriel Attal during his time at the Ministry of Education and who continues to carefully monitor the progress of this project from his position as Prime Minister. The unions are calling for “amplifying the mobilization” which has been going on for several months and which intensified in February with several days of strike.

The teachers' protest movement is particularly active in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in Ile-de-France where "dead colleges" operations and strikes have been increasing since February 26. The department faces a significant and obvious lack of resources to combat the unsanitary conditions of many establishments.

For the April 2 strike, demonstrations are expected in Paris and several other cities in France, as indicated by Le Figaro. A day which will also allow the teaching staff to once again demand an increase in salaries and more resources for the entire sector. The unions underline the need to make this movement long-term and specify that they “will support all renewals where possible”.

In their press release, the trade union organizations denounce a "feverish" government which "comes to force itself, publishing texts which defy the opinion of the profession", referring to the publication of official texts on the groups of level on March 17 in the Official Journal. The texts speak of “groups formed according to the needs of the students”. This publication is deemed “Unacceptable and irresponsible” by the unions who underline the need to continue the mobilization “now”.